Parker deal makes sense for both him, Bulls
22 on opening night.
Look for a second unit of Cameron Payne, Denzel Valentine, Chandler Hutchison, Bobby Portis, and Lopez or Carter.
Realize Justin Holiday likely will serve as a veteran mentor and in an injuryinsurance role, with his expiring salary possibly shopped at some point, and David Nwaba likely will be changing addresses. With 13 guaranteed deals after the Bulls waived Paul Zipser and Juylan Stone on Saturday, perhaps a minimum-salary player still is to be signed. The Bulls also have the $4.4 million room midlevel cap exception available.
But the Bulls are basically done for this offseason, choosing Parker’s tantalizing offensive potential on a short-term risk over the long-term commitment it would’ve taken to land restricted free agent Rodney Hood.
“Jabari is a 23-year-old player who is a natural fit with our young core and is a proven scorer at the NBA level,” general manager Gar Forman said in a statement. “We look forward to welcoming him back to his hometown.”
It might not work. Parker has played more effectively at power forward and showed defensive issues regardless of his position. Like LaVine, he also hasn’t graded highly with advanced metrics.
But the essentially oneyear deal ties exactly into what Executive Vice President John Paxson said at his season-ending news conference after the Bulls finished 27-55 and missed the playoffs for the second time in Hoiberg’s three seasons.
“We’re set up with our youth, and we’re going to add more youth to it,” Paxson said in April. “Philly is the model for what they did for all those years, and now look at them. They’ve got some high draft picks, they hit on a few of them and now they’re in a position.
“The other thing we’ve tried to do is manage the cap appropriately so that we have opportunities to spend when the time is right. That will be dictated by circumstances. When we went on the path that we did last summer, we’re not just going to go out and try and sign some older players that fill a need. We have to remain patient and disciplined.
“If Zach, Kris and Lauri all improve significantly over this next year; Bobby and Denzel, who found his niche a little this year, continue growing as players; Cam Payne gives us something; and we add pieces to it, we’re going to be a better basketball team. And we’re going to be young, we’re going to be athletic, we’re going to be more skilled.
It’s going to be a team that I think can play at a high level.”
Since pushing the button on a full rebuild with the Jimmy Butler deal last June, the Bulls have added LaVine, Dunn, Markkanen, Carter, Hutchison and now Parker. All are 24 or younger.
With the team option on Parker, the Bulls get a season to see if he can stay healthy and produce. If not, the Bulls can decline the option and have about $35 million of salary-cap space next offseason. If he does, there’s optimism from both sides to negotiate a longterm deal.
This speaks as much to the gesture the Bucks offered in rescinding their $4.3 million qualifying offer to Parker after Friday night’s deadline as it does to the Bulls’ strong relationship with Parker’s agent, Mark Bartelstein. The Chicago-based CEO of Priority Sports & Entertainment also represents Portis and Hutchison.
Bartelstein worked with the Bucks to rescind their qualifying offer to make Parker an unrestricted free agent because they had no plans to match the Bulls’ offer sheet had Parker been a restricted free agent. An offer sheet can feature nonguaranteed money in the second year but can’t contain a team option, which is beneficial to both Parker and the Bulls.
It allows for a long-term extension if Parker plays well as opposed to the Bulls choosing to waive or keep him at the negotiated number for the second season of a two-year deal.
“Jabari and I express our sincere gratitude to (general manager) Jon Horst and Bucks owners Marc Lasry, Wes Edens and Jamie Dinan for working side by side with us throughout the free-agency period,” Bartelstein said in a statement released by the Bucks, who thanked Parker for his play and community service. “From the moment the Bucks drafted Jabari with the No. 2 pick in the 2014 draft, they have gone out of their way to treat Jabari as a member of the Bucks family. And this is another perfect example of doing exactly that, and we’re very appreciative.”
Parker also spoke in the statement released by the Bucks. “I am extremely grateful to the Bucks and the incredible fans of Mil- waukee for showing me so much love and encouragement,” Parker said. “Specifically, I’d like to thank Jon, Marc, Wes and Jamie for giving me my start in the NBA and supporting me throughout my career.
“Thank you to my teammates for being like brothers to me. Also, the medical and performance staff led by Troy Flanagan and Suki Hobson deserve my unending thanks for their dedication in helping me get stronger and healthier every day.”
Parker won four consecutive state championships at Simeon, becoming the first player in Illinois’ decorated high school history to win two Mr. Basketball awards. He earned McDonald’s AllAmerican status and numerous national player of the year awards in high school and continued his success at Duke, earning consensus first-team AllAmerican status in his lone season before declaring for the NBA draft.
Off the court, Parker has earned a reputation as a socially aware player adept at community service. With his father, former NBA player Sonny, as his role model, he has done extensive community service work in both Milwaukee and Chicago and penned a memorable essay for The Players’ Tribune in August 2016 addressing the latter’s issues with gun violence.
Some of those close to him have said Parker has aimed to improve every situation he has entered.
Nobody thinks the Bulls are winning a title anytime soon. But the franchise believes Saturday’s news adds momentum toward that goal.